3 takeaways from Knights’ loss: Can’t find net as win streak snapped
Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy made sure to note that the New York Islanders are most effective when keeping the game at five-on-five.
That would normally play into the Knights’ hands, being a terrific five-on-five team themselves.
But when bounces don’t go the Knights’ way, like they didn’t on Thursday, the Islanders don’t resemble a team that came into the day in last place in the Metropolitan Division.
They look like a team that can still win with their talent, and that showed in the Knights’ 4-0 loss to the Islanders at T-Mobile Arena.
Center Brock Nelson had a goal and an assist, and goaltender Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves for his second shutout of the season to end the Knights’ three-game winning streak.
It’s the second time the Knights have been shut out at home this season and first since Jaxson Stauber’s 29-save clean sheet for the Utah Hockey Club on Nov. 30.
“There wasn’t a lot there, but when they had opportunities, they finished,” Cassidy said.
Goaltender Adin Hill made 17 saves as the Knights (28-10-3) were the last team to reach double digits in regulation losses this season.
The Knights, however, hit the halfway point of the season with a league-best 59 points.
“They played well,” defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “They were really disciplined in their structure. We didn’t execute properly. It cost us goals, and we chased the game and tried to make things happen.”
The Knights controlled play through the first period and got rewarded with the game’s first power play on a hooking penalty by Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield.
Tomas Hertl scored a power-play goal at 13:35, but Hertl was offsides on the entry. The Islanders won their challenge on the play.
New York (16-18-7) killed the penalty, and that was the break it needed. The Islanders’ forecheck got going after the reversal, and it was rewarded when Hertl turned it over in the defensive zone to Nelson, who set up left wing Anders Lee alone at the right circle at 17:04 for a 1-0 lead.
That was the Knights’ only power play.
“I don’t think it should be deflating,” Cassidy said. “Those plays happen. It’s unfortunate, but I think it gave them some juice, to be honest.”
The second period was more of the same from the first. The Knights controlled play for the first few minutes. Left wing Jonas Rondbjerg hit a post 2:38 into the frame that would have tied the game.
New York, once again, took advantage. Left wing Tanner Pearson turned it over at the offensive blue line, and Nelson converted on the transition chance at 5:30 to make it 2-0. Center Bo Horvat finished a centering feed from right wing Kyle Palmieri five minutes later at 10:41 to make it 3-0.
The Islanders scored twice on six shots in the frame, while the Knights couldn’t get any of their first 19 shots through 40 minutes past Sorokin.
The Knights have never been at the top of the NHL standings at the halfway mark until this season. The closest they had been was five points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning during the inaugural season.
They had a promising run to close the first half, going 17-4-1 since Nov. 21. But it’s the end of the 41st game that’ll stick out in a bad way.
”Definitely wasn’t our night,” left wing Victor Olofsson said. “You’ve just got to be patient against teams like that, and I think we gave them a little too much.”
Here are three takeaways from the loss:
1. Pearson’s demotion
The turnover that set up Nelson’s goal was the last bit of action for Pearson on the top line.
Pearson was moved to the fourth line immediately after the goal, while Olofsson was moved up with center Jack Eichel and captain Mark Stone.
Pearson had played well in that role since being put up there on Jan. 2, but the turnover was a reminder that the spot is fluid until Ivan Barbashev returns from his upper-body injury.
Barbashev, along with center Nic Roy (upper body), participated at morning skate and both could potentially return Saturday against the New York Rangers.
2. Islanders’ stifling defense
New York made sure to make it as seamless a night as possible for its star goaltender.
Sorokin had to make just one high-danger save at five-on-five and three for the entire game, according to Natural Stat Trick, while 21 of his saves were considered low-danger.
The Knights couldn’t get to the dangerous areas enough to challenge Sorokin, and it showed in the final 40 minutes.
Cassidy said where the Knights struggled most was in the one-on-one battles, as well as not generating enough traffic in front when working from below the goal line to the high slot. He added that support in the neutral zone and breakouts weren’t as clean as they’ve been for most of the season.
“We have to try and get more pucks to the net, probably,” Olofsson said. “We didn’t get enough pucks in there and definitely not the second chances we wanted.”
3. No-show forwards
The Knights’ top two shooters Thursday were defensemen. Zach Whitecloud led the team with four shots on goal, while Shea Theodore had three.
Eichel was held to three — while going 2-for-10 in the faceoff circle — and Stone, who had goals in three straight games, had just two.
“They didn’t give us anything, really,” said Olofsson, who had only one shot on goal. “You just got to play a simple game, and when we did have success, we had pucks in their end.”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.